GS Paper 3:
Syllabus: Conservation related issues.
Context:
The latest edition (2022) of the Environmental Performance Index was recently released.
The report is prepared by the researchers of:
- Yale Centre for Environmental Law &Policy.
- Centre for International Earth Science Information Network Earth Institute, Columbia University.
About the Environmental Performance Index:
- The EPI provides a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world.
- It ranks 180 countries on 40 performance indicators including climate change, environmental public health, biodiversity etc.
- It offers a scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance.
- It also provides practical guidance for countries that aspire to move toward a sustainable future.
Performance of India and other countries:
- The report ranked India at the bottom in a list of 180 countries.
- The lowest scores go to India (18.9), Myanmar (19.4), Vietnam (20.1), Bangladesh (23.1) and Pakistan (24.6).
- The US has been ranked at 43rd and the biggest current emitter China has been ranked at 160th position.
- Top 5 countries: Denmark, UK, Finland, Malta and Sweden have been ranked at the top five positions due to their better performance.
Why India is placed at the bottom?
- The report claimed that India prioritised economic growth over environment.
- It has markedly poor air quality and quickly rising greenhouse gas emissions.
Why India rejected the report?
- As per Indian govt, the report used many indicators based on unfounded assumptions.
- The methodology does not consider per capita emissions and different socio-economic conditions across countries.
- The weight of indicators in which India was performing well has been reduced.
- The principle of equity is given very low weightage in the form of the indicators like GHG emission per capita and GHG emission intensity trend.
- The common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC) principle is also barely reflected in the composition of the index.
- Forests and wetlands, which act as crucial carbon sinks, have not been factored in while computing the projected GHG emissions trajectory up to 2050 by EPI 2022.
Sources: Indian Express.
